Māori oral histories provide a rich source of understanding and information about past tsunamis in Aotearoa-New Zealand. They draw from multiple layers of experience and meaning, helping to recall the past as well as remind us about environmental risks in the present and future.

Researchers from the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges Mātauranga Māori programme have recently delved into a ‘folk tale’ called The Rival Wizards to explore the inclusion of Māori ancestral experience with tsunami(s) on Rangitoto (D’Urville Island). The Rival Wizards is one of a number of Māori ‘folk tales’ published in 1907 by the European ethnographer Alfred Grace (1867 – 1942). In the story [hereafter pūrākau], the ‘wizard-chief’, Te Pou, summoned three great waves to extract retribution on his rival Titipa for defying him. These great waves were described, including how they struck and scoured the shores. According to the researchers the descriptive language is similar to that used by modern-day tsunami survivors.

To affirm the inclusion of tsunami narratives within the pūrākau, researchers conducted interviews with 20 key informants from Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kuia. These informants hold deep connections with the top of the South Island (where Rangitoto is located). The researchers were careful to ensure their analysis focussed on emphasising the participant’s views, rather than the meaning they themselves brought to the research. They wanted to avoid subjecting the pūrākau to any external judgements and risk turning it into something it was not.

Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kuia interviewees were given a written copy of The Rival Wizards before their interview, and upon questioning each person revealed that they did not know the pūrākau prior to the study. However, the informants were familiar with many of the elements and storytelling devices contained in the pūrākau. There was also widespread awareness of Karepa Te Whetu who told the pūrākau to Alfred Grace. All informants agreed that Karepa Te Whetu lived on Rangitoto, and was the elder son of Te Whetu, a respected Ngāti Koata leader. Many of the informants considered that the reason they did not specifically know about The Rival Wizards was due to whānau having passed on or moving away from the island, taking many of their stories with them.

Informants from both Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kuia spoke at length about the likelihood that the pūrākau derived from Rangitoto. The names and descriptions of locations were considered as well as common references to incantation and shapeshifting which were regarded as highly relevant to any claims of the narrative coming from the northern South Island. Further still, most of the Ngāti Kuia informants recognised the names of the main characters in the pūrākau, such as Rongomai, Te Pou and Titipa. One respondent said that Te Pou was his father’s middle name, and that “every Peter is a Pou” in Ngati Kuia.

At the end of The Rival Wizards Te Pou calls forth three catastrophic waves, which almost all informants agreed most likely referred to direct experience with one or multiple past tsunamis. However, they did not know exactly where or when this happened. Thinking about the great waves described in the pūrākau also led several of the informants to note similarities with another pūrākau from Moawhitu (Greville Harbour) on the western side of Rangitoto. In this alternative narrative, a tsunami possibly occurring in the 1400s or 1500s drowned nearly everyone living in the area, and their bodies now lie in the surrounding sand dunes. This catastrophic inundation may be the same one described in The Rival Wizards.

By working directly with Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kuia it is clear that there is a deep familiarity with the different elements of The Rival Wizards, including knowledge of a past tsunami (and possibly multiple events) on and surrounding Rangitoto. The importance of taking such stories ‘home’ to the community and family groups where they were originally told was also made clear through this research. It emphasises not only the critical role of whakapapa [ancestral lineage, genealogy] in framing and comprehending the context of such narratives, but it also recognises the authority of kin groups such as Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kuia, to reclaim and affirm their histories in their own words. This on-going work has the potential to contribute to the production of ‘new’ plural narratives about tsunami disturbance, recurrence and risk around Aotearoa-New Zealand’s coast.

Kura Kaupapa Māori (kura) and bilingual schools are primary schools which operate fully or partially under Māori custom and have curricula developed to include te reo Māori. These schools were established to empower tamariki and ensure Māori language and culture are a significant influence in their education. To ensure Māori students are supported in their ability to flourish culturally it is important to respect the place of Māori kaupapa values, mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and te reo in the resources developed for kura, bilingual and mainstream schools.

This is the case with natural hazard education, which is particularly important in Aotearoa New Zealand as a country vulnerable to a wide range of hazards. One of these is tsunami, which is of especially high risk in coastlines on the East Coast of the North Island along which the Hikurangi Subduction Zone lies. Because of the risk of near-source tsunami (which can reach land with a very small warning period) all sectors of the community must be prepared for a tsunami event. It is important that children are reached out to, not only due to their valuable role as information providers about hazards within their families, but to empower them to become disaster resilient and aware adults. Māori have an extensive knowledge of their local rohe and the history of hazards (both from the whenua and from the moana) which is often not appropriately recognised within mainstream hazard education resources. Researchers from the Joint Centre for Earthquake Research, Massey University and East Coast LAB in Napier have been funded by Resilience to Nature’s Challenges contestable funding to collaboratively develop a kete (tool kit) of tsunami risk reduction activities for kura and schools located in Hawke’s Bay’s tsunami evacuation zones. This will provide an opportunity for Māori knowledge, te reo and tikanga to inform culturally appropriate hazard education activates that are culturally and locally relevant for the students and the kura and school communities.

Before developing these activities the researchers wanted to find out what would be most useful for the kura and school communities. To do this they held hui with kura and school staff to provide specific information about tsunami risk in their community, to shed light on what teachers already know about tsunami risk, and find out what activities and knowledge they would find most useful for their students. Cross-cohort mentorship is a pathway for educating children in a child-centric disaster risk reduction model. This pilot project will be working with high school aged students over a course of a few weeks to develop tsunami education activities which will then be run with primary school-aged students. By following a student mentorship model, students will be able to take ownership of the resources they develop and the responsibility of running the activities with younger students may help reinforce the importance of tsunami preparedness.

Once the activities have been carried out, the researchers will evaluate the process to find out what aspects of the process and activity worked, as well as to identify challenges. Evaluation might be carried out through another hui, or surveys of and interviews with participants, or a combination of these. The research findings and a summary of the project will then be drafted into a research note for publication, with participants having the opportunity to give feedback before this was submitted.

The foundation of this research will be the partnership between the Māori-led research team and the school communities. This means that the activities will be designed by and for Māori, address Māori concerns, and be implemented in accordance with Māori values, research practices and health models. Participants, stakeholders and the researchers will also collaborate in identifying potential issues and opportunities throughout the research process.

The role of te reo knowledge and scholarship in the compilation of traditional and contemporary mōteatea – narratives to support whānau, hapū and iwi engagement with their knowledge and scholarship, their whenua and the loss of whenua in natural hazard management.

In the last 100-160 years the diversity loss of te reo for Māori and Pākehā in Aotearoa New Zealand has affected intergenerational whānau, hapū and iwi reo experience, knowledge and scholarship. This has been caused by (1) historical removal from inherited land sources and depopulation, (2) deliberate suppression of languages and knowledge, (3) the occurrence of environmental hazards over the millennium.

In the last 3-4 decades Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori, Whare Kura, Kaupapa Māori, Mātauranga Māori, tertiary institution universities and Wānanga ā-iwi, Māori multi-media and broadcasting have had coverage right across the broad spectrum of Māori world views; in te reo, education, health, economics, land development, and sovereignty issues. This has allowed opportunities created by technology, sciences, and environmental hazard issues to emerge exponentially.

This new direction has allowed whānau, hapū and iwi in Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Te Whakatōhea, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāi Tā Manuhiri to engage with the research through traditional songs and other rich narratives sources. These forms of engagement have re-established the loss of responsive te reo critical theories, through critical pedagogical research methodologies. As a product of this, the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges research platform has published eight te reo source tool kits, which support effective engagement with whānau, hapū and iwi.

These emerging critical te reo publications support whānau, hapū and iwi engagement in 3 key areas: (1) accumulation and sharing of traditional and contemporary knowledge, (2) the creation of new knowledge, (3) restoring and unlocking new knowledge sources.

This Resilience Challenge te reo – research platform, titled ‘Investigating the role of te reo knowledge and scholarship in the compilation of traditional and contemporary narratives to support whānau, hapū and iwi engagement with their knowledge whenua and the loss of whenua in natural hazard management’, is based on 4 research aims:

the compilation, retelling and refreshing of essential narrative-heritage sources connected to the people and the natural environment,

the recovery of rich te reo literary expression and philosophy

recapturing reo historical ‘truths’

compiling reo knowledge that is connected to occurrence of environmental hazards over the millennium to advance the expression of Māori philosophy and knowledge in science and environmental hazards.

The research aims above point the Resilience Challenge te reo – research platform to a new te reo direction. New knowledge narratives, supported by the Mātauranga Framework presented below, will be integrated with digital publishing to engage with Māori language teachers – marae, whānau, hapū, and iwi across Aotearoa. It will also create te reo resilience teaching resources to give continuity and build-cultural te reo diversity around environmental hazards.

Iwi management plans (IMPs) are resource management plans prepared by an iwi, iwi authority, rūnanga or hapū. They are generally prepared as an expression of rangatiratanga to help iwi and hapū exercise their kaitiaki roles by identifying issues regarding the use of natural resources in their area. IMPs are a valuable strategic tool for natural hazard management, and provide a link between Mātauranga Māori and land use planning. However, their potential influence and role within council planning processes is uncertain.

Researchers from the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges Mātauranga Māori programme wanted to help clear up some of this uncertainty and find out how IMPs were being used as a tool for natural hazard management, and what the opportunities are for their use. To do this, they carried out a case study of iwi management plans in the Bay of Plenty region (which is susceptible to every natural hazard in New Zealand).

No one has investigated the role or use of IMPs for managing natural hazards before, making this research novel. Findings will provide key insights into how iwi and councils value IMPs, and how internal council processes can change to take IMPs into account more often and effectively. As a representative of council expressed after a meeting on their implementation of IMPs:

“the kōrero certainly provided and promoted further discussion and areas for us to consider regarding our iwi management plans and processes” [council representative, May 2018]

In total, 29 IMPs have been lodged with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. The researchers analysed 21 of these plans to find out what they specified with regards to natural hazards, how they linked to other plans and policies, and what the consultation process was. Of these 21 plans, only six included reference to natural hazards, to different degrees; some had specific and explicit information on natural hazard risks and climate change, while others were more general. Based on the content of these six plans, four were analysed in more detail to ascertain to what degree natural hazards had been included. In addition, regional and district plans (including emergency management plans) were assessed for how they acknowledged IMPs.

In light of these findings, researchers are now investigating how well IMPs are being implemented, used, and valued through hui with iwi and councils, with research due to be completed by June 2019.

It is intended that this research will help to Increase awareness of IMPs within councils, as well as providing new and/or improved processes and education that support and encourage the use of IMPs in all planning processes. It will also strive to see IMPs becoming more valued and supported as another method to manage natural hazards in Māori communities, and ensure that IMPs are valued, useful and used by consultants, consent applicants, and councils. It is hoped that the study will also help researchers to become more aware of the IMPs, and how the Mātauranga within the IMPs can inform their science direction and contribute to their outcomes.

In addition, the following publications are planned in the next 12 months:

Internationally peer reviewed journal article on the role indigenous knowledge in planning for natural hazards from a Māori world view perspective

Internationally peer reviewed journal article on the role indigenous knowledge in planning for natural hazards from a western governance perspective

Planning Quaterly article on the role and value of IMPs in natural hazard management (PQ is the planning magazine of the NZ Planning Institute)

Key stakeholders that have been involved in interviews to date are: Ngāti Raukawa; Ngāti Rangiwewehi; Ngāti Rangitihi; Matakana and Rangiwaea Islands iwi; South Waikato District Council; Waikato Regional Council; Rotorua District Council; Western Bay of Plenty District Council; and Tauranga City Council. Interviews with Bay of Plenty Regional Council; Whakatāne District Council, Ōpōtiki District Council, and Kawearu District Council are planned. In addition, Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Civil Defence Emergency Management, and Local Government NZ will be targeted as findings and recommendations are drafted.

A bit about me

Ko Ruapehu te Maunga

Ko Whanganui te Awa

Ko Atihaunui a Pāpārangi te iwi

Ko Te Pooti te Marae

Ko Jacob Robinson tōku ingoa

I was born in the small town of Raetihi where my passion for understanding the many processes in nature started. I remember that from a very early age I was always exploring the bush on my grandparents’ farm. However, it wasn’t until witnessing the 1995-1996 eruptions of Mt Ruapehu from our house that I first thought about pursuing a career in science. After leaving secondary school, I began working at the Tangiwai sawmill as a boiler operator. I then became a fisherman working off the Whanganui coast. At 26 I started my academic journey at Massey University where I studied Earth Science and then went on to complete an honours degree that investigated the history of lahar deposits on the south-western ring plain of Mt Ruapehu. I am currently at Massey University undertaking PhD research investigating sediment tracing in the Whanganui catchment.

Whanganui upper river

An overview of my project

Every year more than 200 million tonnes of sediment washes down New Zealand’s rivers and into the sea. This is not only having a devastating impact on many fresh water ecosystems, but is also a major concern regarding the loss of land productivity. Land instability and flooding are two further challenges that continue to have increasingly negative impacts within the Whanganui area as well as other parts of the country. As a society that highly values its lakes and rivers, is affected by frequent storms and flood events and where the economy relies heavily on soil fertility, it is important that we strive to understand the underlying natural processes causing these issues and strive to understand how these processes may change into the future.

My project aims to investigate sediment fingerprinting techniques within the Whanganui catchment in order to gain insight into the movement of sediment through the system. Due to the inherent geological and geomorphological character of the Whanganui catchment, anthropogenic influences such as land use change have greatly exacerbated rates of erosion leading to increased suspended sediment entering streams and rivers. Sediment fingerprinting is a tool for evaluating sediment provenance, capable of directly quantifying sediment supply through differentiating sediment sources based on inherent geochemical signatures. Understanding the spatial origin and movement of suspended sediment is an important step in guiding sustainable management of the natural resources within the Whanganui catchment.

Another important component of my research is the incorporation of Mātauranga Māori. More than a millennium of occupation has embedded the Whanganui River and surrounding environment deep into the collective consciousness of Whanganui iwi. A substantial environmental knowledge base has accrued during this time and is contained in the forms of recitation of whakapapa, stories, proverbs, sayings, songs, cultural activities and tribal expressions. Incorporating mātauranga pūtaiao into this research presents an opportunity to study the catchment with a unique Māori perspective using methods that adhere to mātauranga ā-iwi principles and values. This indigenous knowledge base can provide holistic traditional and contemporary insights into the physical and spiritual phenomenon operating within the Whanganui catchment and will be a key component in developing effective research tools for this project and management strategies for the future.

Erosion around Retaruke River after a storm in March 2018

Next steps

Some of the key issues I hope to investigate with this research include enhancing our understanding of the spatial origin of sediment through investigating sub-catchment suspended sediment contributions over various time frames. I also want to develop techniques to analyse historical sediment flux regimes before and after arrival of Māori and European settlers using geochemical techniques on flood deposits. The incorporation of Mātauranga Māori is unique in this field of research and will ensure that the outcomes are relevant to tangata whenua and the wider community. To date, work in this area of research is very limited in the Whanganui catchment and within New Zealand. New approaches will be explored to expand upon the current literature relating to sediment fingerprinting techniques and sediment movement using the Whanganui catchment as a case study. After the completion of my research project, I hope to continue working in the Whanganui region with my iwi to achieve our aspirations as kaitiaki of the environment.